AfterAction Counseling, PLLC

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AfterAction Counseling, PLLC

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🪖Veteran & Retired LEO Operated
🧠 Mental Health Counseling
🇺🇸 Debrief Your Day

10/28/2026

🇺🇸 National First Responders Day

The sacrifice goes far beyond the uniform.

It’s the missed holidays, birthdays, family dinners, and moments you can’t get back. It’s the physical exhaustion, mental weight, and emotional toll that don’t always end when the shift does.

Today, we recognize your service and sacrifice, but also the person behind the uniform.

Take time to regroup. Care for your body, mind, and soul. Recognize your own needs, reconnect with those who matter most, and remember that your identity extends far beyond your profession.

You dedicate so much of yourself to being there for others. Make sure you’re showing up for yourself, too.

To all first responders, past and present, thank you for your service, dedication, and sacrifice.

10/20/2026

Some things have become so normalized in first responder culture that we forget how much they’re actually costing us.

Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. Suppression isn’t resilience. And asking for help isn’t weakness.

Even the strongest need support.

🐾 Maligator approved.

10/17/2026

BIG T vs. little t TRAUMA

Not all trauma comes from a single life-changing event.

Big T Trauma: Major experiences such as violence, serious accidents, combat, or life-threatening situations.

little t Trauma: Experiences such as rejection, betrayal, chronic stress, or repeated emotional wounds that build over time.

Both can influence how the brain processes stress, safety, and emotions.

Big T and little t are not clinical terms. They’re simply ways to explain that an experience doesn’t have to be extreme or life-threatening to leave a lasting impact.

Trauma isn’t defined solely by what happened. It’s also about how the experience affected you.

Trauma isn’t a competition. Its impact matters.

10/12/2026

YOU CAN’T KEEP SHOWING UP FOR EVERYONE ELSE WHILE IGNORING YOURSELF.

Veterans and first responders are conditioned to put others first. Over time, that can create a belief that your own needs don’t matter.

EMDR therapy can help challenge and reprocess those negative beliefs, creating room for a healthier mindset.

Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean you’re letting others down.

You can serve others without sacrificing yourself.

DEBRIEF YOUR DAY.

10/10/2026

RUNNING UP THAT HILL.

For some, the hardest battles don’t happen on the battlefield or behind the badge.

They happen long after the uniform comes off.

In the silence of the drive home. In the memories that surface when everything gets quiet. In the struggle to explain what you’ve seen, what you’ve done, and what you’ve carried.

Veterans and first responders spend their careers stepping into situations most people spend their lives trying to avoid.

And when the mission ends, the weight doesn’t always disappear.

Sometimes you wish someone could trade places with you, even for a moment. Not because you want them to experience the pain, but because you want them to understand why you’re different. Why you can’t just turn it off. Why some days feel like an uphill battle that never ends.

But you shouldn’t have to prove how heavy the burden is before someone helps you carry it.

Strength isn’t measured by how much suffering you can endure in silence.

And asking for help doesn’t erase the courage it took to serve.

This World Mental Health Day, check on the ones who always answered the call. The ones who ran toward danger. The ones who still carry pieces of the job long after their service ends.

They’ve spent enough time fighting battles for everyone else. They shouldn’t have to fight their own alone..

AfterAction Counseling, PLLC
Debrief Your Day.

09/14/2026

We spend so much time training to serve, protect, and save others that sometimes we forget we’re worth saving too.

We learn to run toward the chaos. To take care of the person beside us. To push through pain because there’s still a job to do.

But eventually, we have to assess our own wounds.

The longer we neglect ourselves, the easier it becomes to live on the X, to stay stuck at the point where everything changed.

You are just as important to save.

Get off the X. Find safety. Assess the wounds. Get the help you need. And keep moving forward.

09/11/2026

25 Years Later. We Still Remember. 🇺🇸

On September 11, 2001, I was in the 4th grade when nearly 3,000 lives were lost, and countless first responders and ordinary Americans ran toward danger to help others. This event would shape how I would dedicate my adult life to the service of others.

Twenty-five years later, “Never Forget” means remembering those who carried that day home with them.

For many first responders, veterans, survivors, and families, the effects of trauma, grief, PTSD, and moral injury can continue long after the event is over.

We cannot ask people to repeatedly run toward the worst moments of someone else’s life without making sure someone is there for them when they come home.

Remember the fallen. Honor those who served. Support those still carrying the weight.

Never Forget. 🇺🇸

08/26/2026

Excited to officially announce that I am now licensed and accepting new clients for mental health counseling throughout North Carolina virtually as well as in person both in Clayton and Dunn, NC.

This has been a long road, and I’m excited to begin this next chapter before becoming a counselor, I spent 10 years serving in the Marine Corps and 5 years serving in law enforcement. Those experiences gave me a firsthand understanding of high-stress environments, trauma exposure, difficult transitions, relationships, family life, and what it can be like to carry experiences that aren’t always easy to explain to someone who hasn’t lived them.

My clinical approach is trauma-informed, practical, and focused on helping people move forward. I’m especially passionate about working with veterans, first responders, parents, couples, and others navigating trauma, anxiety, life transitions, relationship challenges, and the weight of demanding roles.

You don’t have to forget what happened or become someone different to move forward. Sometimes you just need a place to process it, make sense of it, and figure out what comes next.

Debrief. Rebuild. Move Forward.

07/19/2025

Meet the Owner 👋
Hey there I’m Will, a Marine Corps veteran and former law enforcement officer who has spent years helping people navigate crisis, chaos, and change.

Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and share a bit of my background in coaching. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology: Crisis Counseling, I’m a Board-Certified Mental Health Coach (BCMHC) and Certified Trauma-Informed Coach (CTIC).

These credentials reflect my advanced training and commitment to helping individuals manage mental health challenges and navigate trauma with practical, evidence-based support.

As a BCMHC, I’ve completed focused training that equips me to help clients set goals, manage symptoms, and build better routines. As a CTIC, I approach every situation through a trauma informed lens prioritizing safety, trust, and empowerment in the coaching relationship.

If you or someone you care about is working through overwhelm, stress, or life transitions, I’m here to help.

Let’s take the next step together.

*not a replacement for licensed therapy

07/18/2025

Hey there it’s been a while.

If you’ve followed me since the Give More Fitness days, you might be wondering what this new name is popping up on your feed.

Life’s taken some big turns, and I’m excited to finally share my next chapter: AfterAction Coaching, LLC a mental health coaching practice born from years of service, personal growth, and a deep desire to help others through life’s toughest battles.

This isn’t just fitness or nutrition anymore.
It’s about mental clarity, resilience, and breaking through the blocks that keep you stuck.

As I finish school and shift away from public service, I’m leaning into something that’s been on my heart for a long time: helping others heal, reset, and move forward with purpose.

If you or someone you love is feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or just needs a fresh perspective I’m here.

Thanks for being part of this journey. Reach out anytime.
🤟 Will

Address

Jacksonville, NC

Telephone

+19088093495

Website

http://afteractionmhc.com/

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